Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1887-01-20

4
other with uncouth zks of affectio,
After q while We res 4sd our old laz
positions, and siIentl awaited furths
developments. The le man signe
the goat to a remote snot, where 81
lay down. and then. E3znfng towar
US. said. as If taking "a unpresse
thought: "You see. o7s. / could no
help it if Nann;e woI|I3 zoll0w me.
have been good . nd she r.
members it. | had q, leave HON
secretly to escape her, aud all througl
the journey / felt like a scoundrel, an,
now-well, here she is"
He stopped abruptly. without wait
ing for comment and lay down with
short goodnight. Hay awake ssvera
hours after the others, wondering idl,
as to the probable tie which bound tn,
newcomer to the goat, but arriving a
no solution.
From that night Parsons and hi
goat became subject of never sndin.
speculation to the mess. He was very
quiet and unobtrusive, never resentinS
although contriving to evade imper.
tisnt questions, and bearing every
thing with good nature amounting tc
stupidity. As for the goat. she became
the hapless butt of the whole division
We called her derisively Miss Anna,
treating her with an amount of mock
consideration that made Parsons eye:
fairly glisten with appreciation.
The second night after their arrival
we began to sing. as usual, when the
Virginian rose, and, in a speech the
delicate humor of which shall no,
attempt to reproduce, begged that
Miss Anna's" rest should not be bro
ken by our rude chanting. I shall
never forget the broken, tender, de-
precating little reply that came from
Parsons, and how we consented at last
to sing. His face was so rapt as he
sat beating time with his forefnger,
and occasionally quaverlng out an
effective dying tonight, "dying to-
night. which we ssS as II our very
lifs-blood were ebbing away that l
began to realize the absolute coward
ice of ridiculing a perfectly innocent.
unconscious man. I began to try and
shield him from the fun makers, and
was finally Joined by Orphee. who be-
came his more ardent and eloquent
partisan. AS for Parsons, he grew al
most to worship the handsome, sweet
voiced lad.
One luckless afternoon Parsons, Or
phee and I strolled off together, lesv
ing Miss Anna" to the msrcies of our
mess, but, tormented by some vague
presentiment of evil, I induced my
companions to return little earlier
than they intended. As we neared
the tent my ear caught the sounds Of
derision that came first from our Fir-
ginian and were then finally caught
up by the others, and ended in peal
after peal OF laughter.
We pushed eagerly in. Alas
"Miss Anna" dscked out in the most
ridiculous toggery, had been tied be-
tween four stakes driven into the
ground, and the men were engeaed in
pricking her with pine burrs until the
poor animal fairly writhed in agony
In . minute we had freed her, aad
Parsons held the poor bleeding crea,
turs close to his breast. His small
square figure seemed to rise and dilats
with a certain sense Of superior pow
er as he turned his blanched face and
blazing eyes upon the crowd.
lyon call yourselves gentlemen,
he said, harshly. ''you who have tor
tured the poor, dumb. defsnseles
creature left in your care. Thank Goc
my meaning of the word is different
You have no excuse. You are FL
supposed to be men, and honorable
men, men who are fighting for tn
rights of their country, and yet you
can amuse yourselves with senseles
cruelty such ss you have practice,
this afternoon. You have branded
yourselves as towards and liars, fo,"-
his voice broke suddenly-"I trustee
YOU
There was an ominors, threatening
stir in the little tent, and several me
stepped out toward the speaker, pic
turesque in his very unpicture>qae
ness, whose grotesqus figure stood ou
sharply against the bit of landscap
showing through the opening of th
tent. But his face awed them hscI
The gsat turned and mosned pitifuli,
rubbing her nose against Parsos
coat With mute insislsEGa. His iae
altered wonderfully; he seemed I
forget the men, his anger. every thin,